


Covered

by pickleplum



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-13
Updated: 2013-11-13
Packaged: 2018-01-01 09:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1043447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickleplum/pseuds/pickleplum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt finds out Hermann has a few tattoos of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Covered

Newt has to do a double take and then pick his jaw up off the floor when he sees it. There is something very, very, _very_ wrong with the scene in front of him. For a moment, he wonders if the two Drifts or the MRI actually did scramble his brain.

Hermann…. _Hermann_ has nearly as many tattoos as he does.

And they are _gorgeous._

Stylized Jaegers stare out from the man’s thin, muscular arms and across his back, worked with thick black lines and bright colors like stained glass. Unlike Newt’s own ink, there isn’t a consistent color palette. It’s more of a color riot, but the way the designs interlock holds the entire piece together as tightly as gears in a watch. Newt recognizes _Horizon Brave_ on Hermann’s left forearm and _Romeo Blue_ gazing impassively from his lower back. And are those lines of OS code twisting between them? It must have taken hundreds of hours to do it all. He has to be hallucinating this.

He tries clearing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. Nope. The colors are still there, standing out boldly against Hermann’s pale skin. It’s enough to unhinge his mind for the third time in twenty-four hours. He can only stammer “Tattoos? _You?”_

Hermann pauses as he’s dressing after his own scan and turns around, shirt in hand. Newt’s jaw drops again as he realizes more Jaegers cover Hermann’s torso from neck to navel.

“Ah, yes,” Hermann mumbles, absently rubbing the ink on his chest ( _Brawler Yukon_ ) as he blushes under Newt’s gaze, which he steadfastly refuses to meet. “The Mark I series.”

“Dude…. I don’t think I can process this right now.” Newt drops gracelessly into one of the chairs in the exam room. “What…. Why did you do it?”

“I wanted them to be a part of me like my code was a part of them.” Hermann finally lifts his eyes from the floor to meet Newt’s. “I had each added after it was destroyed as a memorial of sorts and a reminder of my role.” He looks away again and shrugs into his button up. As Hermann closes himself inside the garment, Newt can still see the colors through the threadbare material. Well, that could explain the sweatervests and jackets, he thinks.

“So, uh… that space on your shoulders is for _Cherno Alpha?”_

Hermann answers quietly, “Yes, though I rather hoped it would remain empty. It seemed most appropriate to save that position for the last to fall.”

“You wanted to the strongest one watching your back forever.” Newt pauses and scuffs the toe of his boot against the tiles. “Would’ve been great to have someone like that back in school, wouldn’t it?”

Hermann nods and blushes again as he straightens his collar against the neckline of his vest. “I also thought I should place the final failure where I could bear the heaviest weight.”

“Failure? Dude, what the hell are you talking about?”

Leaning heavily on his cane, he faces Newt, his mouth drawn tight. “They all failed in the end, did they not? Each destroyed along with their pilots and thousands of lives in the cities they were supposed to protect.” He holds up a hand for silence. “Perhaps if I’d written a better system they would not have failed at all or at least more slowly.”

“Stop saying ‘failed’, you idiot. The Mark Is saved millions.” Newt stands up and storms into Hermann’s personal space, waving a finger under the taller man’s nose. “And you-- _you_ \--are the guy who made those skyscrapers go from sedentary to martial artists in fourteen months.” He steps back and smiles at his friend. “You want me to go on?”

"I think I've heard enough flattery for now." Hermann inspects his hands as they twitch around the handle of his cane and Newt knows he’s suppressing a smile. "After seeing my skin, do you think differently of me?"

"Nah. You're still the condescending, chalk-breathing asshole I've been sharing most of my time with for the last five years. No number of awesome tattoos will change that. I just have new blackmail material." He smiles wickedly.

"You wouldn't dare," is Hermann’s indignant response.

“You really should know better than to count on _that_ by now. There’s not a lot I won’t dare. Fortune favoring the brave and all,” he grins. “But there's a simple way to neutralize it this time. Roll up your sleeves every now and then. It's great work. Why hide it?”

“You should know precisely why already, Newton. Displays of body art are inappropriate for men in our positions. Tattoos are for gangsters or sailors, not academics.” 

“And you’re still covered in them, Doctor, and they look really, _really_ good on you. We need to sit down and compare art sometime.” 

Newt treasures the bashful smile he gets from Hermann at the compliment for the rest of his life.

 

 **EPILOGUE**  
“Check this out. A little something to brighten your morning.” Tendo passes his tablet to Mako.

She studies the screen for a moment before looking back at the tech officer with wide eyes. “Oh my. They match."

"See? We were totally right. Visual proof. Soul. Mates,” he answers, grinning and handing the computer to Raleigh.

"This is so much weirder than those old married couples with matching outfits." Herc pulls the tablet from Raleigh’s grip.

The Marshal squints in disbelief before looking at Tendo. “How did you get this? More important, how did you get this and live?” He hands the tablet back with an impressed expression.

“Lots of alcohol and the best poker face in Hong Kong, sir.” He pauses while the others imagine the scene. “On that note, I don’t recommend taking Gottlieb on in a drinking contest. Man could put a Russian bear under the table.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written in answer to two nigh-identical prompts, [this one](http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/2747.html?thread=3579323#t3579323)"  
> "So, how about if Hermann and Newt have coordinating tattoos? For every Kaiju Newt put on his body, Hermann got the Jaeger that took it down (or maybe just its blueprint)? Or maybe Hermann's chest and back are covered with a depiction of the breach and mathematical formulas charting its dimensions? I just love the idea of them being tattoo buddies, especially since most people likely wouldn't suspect it of Hermann. Bonus points if they aren't in a relationship or if it started years before they got together. Double bonus for an emergency stripping situation revealing everything to the Shatterdome at large."  
> and [this one](http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/2747.html?thread=4454075#t4454075):  
> "Newt finds out Hermann has a few tattoos of his own."
> 
> I picture the arrangement of the tattoos like this:  
> Left bicep: _“Tango Tasmania”;_ Right bicep; _Tacit Ronin;_ Left forearm: _Horizon Brave;_ Right forearm: _Lucky Seven;_ Chest: _Brawler Yukon;_ Abdomen: _Coyote Tango;_ Shoulders: blank / _Cherno Alpha;_ Back: _Romeo Blue_
> 
> Because of the timeline dates and Pentecost’s movie statement that he knew Herc “from the Mark I glory days”, I made the executive decision that _Lucky Seven_ is a Mark I. It’s either that or the first of the Mark IIs.
> 
> Music to set the mood: [Portishead, _Dummy_ , Track 2, “Sour Times”](http://youtu.be/rMAFDeVErxs)


End file.
